Big in Japan: North Korea invents super high-calorie noodle

by Matthew Firestone on

This may just be the coolest bit of news you read all day…

While any news story involving North Korean scientists tends to be about nuclear proliferation, today’s Big in Japan post is in fact a salute to these hard-working men and women.

In a failed state that does not produce enough food to feed its population, and is largely reliant on food aid provided by foreign donors, the invention of a super high-calorie noodle is indeed cause for celebration.

According to a recent article in the Choson Shinbo, a Japan-based, pro-Pyongyang newspaper, North Korean scientists have created a new type of noodle that has twice as much protein and fives times as much fat as ordinary ramen.

Made largely of corn and soybean, the new noodles are an engineering breakthrough in their ability to leave people feeling fuller, longer. The paper also reports that the new super high-calorie noodles are specially designed to delay feelings of hunger.

This culinary achievement is being hailed as further evidence of the mighty and divine power of Kim Il-sung, the deceased ‘eternal ruler’ of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK).

Keep reading for more on DPRK’s new ramen revolution…

As reported by a pro-Pyongyang newspaper earlier this week, North Korean scientists are celebrating the invention of a new super high-calorie noodle.

According to the Choson Shinbo, “When you consume ordinary noodles made from wheat or corn, you may soon feel your stomach empty. But this soybean noodle delays such a feeling of hunger.”

Sounds good to me. After all, it’s hard to discount the claims of a country ruled by an immortal leader, especially when they come from such official sounding government ministries as the ‘Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers’ Party.’ Right.

Of course, the invention of this new type of ramen noodle couldn’t come at a better time, especially since the United Nations (UN) warned last month that North Korean residents are experiencing their worst food shortages in more than a decade.

However, the notoriously reclusive communist country is extremely reluctant to allow foreigners to assess the scale of the problem, or to even allow the proper distribution of emergency food aid within its tightly controlled borders.

So, it looks like the humble ramen noodle might soon take up the front lines in the fight for the hearts and bellies of ordinary North Koreans. Over the next few months, the DPRK government will be mass-producing the noodle, and distributing it in bulk before the bitter winter descends on the Motherland.

Sadly, this is no laughing matter, especially since an estimated one million people starved to death in North Korea in the late 1990s. Furthermore, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned last month that six million people were in urgent need of food aid.

While it’s difficult to actually gauge the severity of the situation on the ground, reports that ordinary North Koreans have taken to scavenging for wild foods are not very encouraging. On that note, let’s all hope and pray that this super noodle really is the miracle food it’s purported to be.

** Images courtesy of the WikiCommons Media Project **

Top tourist sights Americans can’t visit

by Jeremy Kressmann on

As you might realize, there are certain countries that are considered “no-go’s” for American travelers, be it for political or economic or other reasons. Publication Foreign Policy took a closer look at this question of prohibited places, recently creating a list of the “Top Tourist Spots Americans Can’t Visit,” a rundown of the top tourist attractions in otherwise “taboo” locations like Iran, Somalia, Burma and Cuba. Who knew Mogadishu had coral reefs teeming with fish just off the shore? Too bad you’re likely to be kidnapped by warlords if you try to visit.

While this sort of list is a deterrent for many, others eat common sense for breakfast, bringing back some fascinating stories in the process. It’s not that they can’t see the danger – these countries can be violent, unstable, and often downright nasty places. But that doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer. Many have distinguished histories as centers of culture, great monuments and great natural wonders. As Foreign Policy points out for instance, the vast ruins of Persepolis in Southern Iran offer a breathtaking view of the tombs and palaces of Persian rulers Xerxes I and Darius the Great. In Cuba, the settlement of Baracoa was the colonial home of Spanish Conquistadors, and also one of the first places Columbus set foot in the New World.

Check out the list. Nobody is suggesting you should/can make a visit, but these places can offer us further insight into the many subtleties that truly define a location’s identity.

The world’s dirtiest cities

[Via MetaFilter]

Top hell-holes on earth

by Jamie Rhein on

April Fool’s Day, 2007, I wrote a post on Linfen, China. Although it was written as a joke, the premise is true. Linfen is a royal mess. Its mighty pollution problem has earned it the number 2 spot on the recent “Hells on Earth” list. The air quality in Linfen is so horrific that there is a perpetual feeling of dusk in this coal dust laden city.

Here’s the rest of the ten places that have a hellish quality. Perhaps you know of others that should have made the cut.

10. Baghdad, Iraq–No surprise here. What, with the war and all, it doesn’t matter if the place has one of the coolest names. According to the article, the city is so dangerous, it’s hard to find people out and about on the streets.

9. Dhaka, Bangladesh–And to think I almost moved here. I had a job interview that I canceled because getting to this place was a hassle. The pollution is problematic. That’s why it’s on the list. Too bad because, everyone I’ve ever met from Bangladesh has been a real gem of a person.

8. Yakutsk, Russia–When I read that this city is the coldest place on earth, that stopped me cold. We’re talking major frostbite. Temperatures can go down to -58 degrees, according to the article. If you’re a kid, it’s a day off from school, so for the younger crowd, this might be heaven.

7. Mogadishu, East Africa (Somalia)–Another one of my favorite city names. I’ve have many students from Somalia–lovely people, and they shake their heads in sorrow over what once was. No one is minding the store in this country that has been wrecked to shambles. The rebels keep running amok. This truly does not sound like a relaxing place to get away. Get away from, sure.

6. Chernobyl, Ukraine–If you want a radiation boost that could do you in, come here. Most of the city was deserted after the nuclear explosion in 1986 and it has not recovered since. There aren’t any prospects for a brighter future either.

5. Oklahoma City, The United States–But the state has such a catchy song, you might be protesting. What’s wrong with Oklahoma City? Weather, that’s what. A Kansas tornado has nothing on Oklahoma City’s. The Ask.Men folks cite 320 mph winds as the fastest. That seems like enough to turn eyelids inside out. Besides that, blizzards are also fierce. I’ve driven through here a couple times on a calm day–always in the summer, and not a gust in sight. Who knew?

4. Pyongyang, North Korea–Gadling blogger, Neil went here and found that hell must have things to like. Sure there’s some hellish, oddball qualities to Pyongyang, but he found it worth the visit. If you can handle the oppression and a tour guide who never lets you wander off on your own, this might feel more like limbo than hell.

3. Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi–If the accounts of people in Burundi feeling the least satisfied than all other people in the world is true, I’d say this is hell indeed. Look at this list for starters. They feel worse than people who live in Linfen? The reason for Burundi’s problems is the corruption.

1. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea–This place does sound like a hell hole. The murder rate, according to Ask.Men is 23 times that of London and gangs and disease–like HIV, run rampant. Swell.

My good friend over at BloggingStocks and WalletPop, Tom Barlow gave me a heads up on this one. Thanks, Tom.

I see dead people

by Jamie Rhein on

I have succumbed to the fascination in viewing dead people. I’m not talking about funerals, but about viewing dead people who have been dead awhile, as in years and years. The recent public viewing of Padre Pio, a Catholic saint, in San Giovani Rotondo, Italy has brought back memories.

Ho Chi Minh was my first preserved body tourist attraction. Mao Zedong was the second one. I wasn’t really comparing which of the two looked better when I went back for a second gander at Ho Chi Minh, but preservation has treated him better, in my opinion. Neither of these former leaders looked real, though–more like odd wax dolls.

Of all the interesting sites one can see in Beijing and Hanoi, the draw to their mausoleums is impressive. Tourists line up in the midst of people who come for patriotic, reverent reasons. The pomp of such attractions interests me as much as the attractions do themselves. Each place has rules to follow. For example, line up single file and check your umbrella. There are no umbrellas allowed Ho Chih Minh’s masouleum from what I recall. I have a memory of chekcing mine.

The changing of the guards and the hushed tones as people file past the glass sarcophagus, perhaps thinking how similar the glass case reminds one of the fairytale Sleeping Beauty, also add to the mood. But, there will be no waking up here. There is no lingering, no stepping back for a second glance. When one walks past Mao and Minh, it’s in single file at a steady slow pace and then, whoosh, you’re out the door.

In San Giovani Rotondo, it looks like people have some time to linger for a decent look at Padre Pio–even snap a photo. Padre Pio, was a mystic monk who is said to have had stigmata, bleeding on his hands and feet, similar to where Jesus’ wounds would have been. Death seems to have taken the stigmata away. There aren’t even traces.

The picture I saw of Padre Pio startled me at first. “Wow! he looks great,” I thought, but then read that the face is covered by a silicon mask made to look like his face. Evidently, his actual face isn’t quite as pristine. It’s not clear how long the saint will be on view before he’s buried again.

One of these days, I may head to see Lenin. His is the first body to have been preserved for generations to come. There are rumors that perhaps all of his body parts aren’t real anymore, even though these bodies go through special cleanings to keep them in shape for onlookers and admirers.

The photo by steepways is tagged as Lenin’s death mask. If I’m feeling ambitious, there’s Kim Il-sung, the former North Korean leader. He’s in Pyongyang. Neil has been there as chronicled in his series “Infiltrating North Korea.” Here’s a post on Kim to get you in the mood.

The Vice Guide to North Korea

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Vice Magazine’s relatively new video site VBS.tv has just finished up its 14-part series on North Korea, called The Vice Guide to North Korea. Host Shane Smith uses some stealth “guerrilla video” tactics to cover all the usual North Korea attractions, from the “world’s greatest eyefuck” known as the Arirang Mass Games to the “most lavish two-stop subway money can buy,” the Pyongyang Metro.

Along the way, Shane frightens some North Koreans with his karaoke rendition of a punk rock song, receives a guilt trip free of charge with a tour of the captured US ship called the Pueblo, and attends a talent show displaying North Korea’s “creepily overtalented future generation.”

The series gives an in-depth, and often hilarious, “tourist’s-eye-view” of what it’s like to visit North Korea. Head on over there and check ’em out.

If you prefer the written word to moving pictures, read about the time Gadling’s own Neil Woodburn infiltrated North Korea.